1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and system for ordering visual prints. More particularly, the invention relates to ordering visual prints from digital image data.
2. Description of the Related Art
The popularity of digital photography is constantly increasing. As the use of digital cameras has increased, so has the demand for printing the digital images captured by these cameras. The demand for digital printing has led many manufacturers to produce and many retail establishments with photo finishing labs or a stand-alone photo finishing shops to install systems for printing digital images. These systems allow the user to bring in their digital storage media and have the system photofinisher operator process and develop visual prints from the digital images.
Despite the fact that digital image printing provides a considerable business opportunity to these retail establishments and photo finishing shops, there as not been much success in promoting the idea to their customers. The main reason is that the effort required by the customer and the system photofinisher operator under the current systems is significantly different from the analog film development process they are used to.
In analog film development, a customer takes a roll of film either to a retailer's photo finishing lab or a photo finishing shop, fills out print order information on an order envelope, places the roll of film in the envelope, and then either hands the envelope to the photo finishing photofinisher operator or drops it in an order box. The photofinisher operator takes the roll of film to the developer (in some instances, the photofinisher operator and the developer are the same individual) and the developer creates a negative from the film. The negative is then used to create a set of final prints per the order information on the order envelope.
On the other hand, in current digital image processing systems, the customer usually has the option of using either a self-service kiosk or handing the digital storage media to a photofinisher operator. The self-service kiosks tend to be very complex, user unfriendly, and time consuming. In addition, in the instances where these kiosks are situated in the same location as a retailer's photo finishing lab or in a photo finishing shop, the photofinisher operator tends to end up helping the customer, thus defeating the purpose of a self-service kiosk.
With respect to the customer handing the customer's digital storage media to the photofinisher operator, the price of digital storage media makes many customers uneasy doing this. In addition, the procedure for developing visual prints from digital images on a digital storage media is different than the procedure for developing prints from analog film. This difference requires the photofinisher operator to learn new skills, and the fact that the photofinisher must switch back and forth between different processing procedures can impact productivity.
There have been some recent attempts to make obtaining visual prints from digital images easier on both the customer and photofinisher operator. The most popular method has been to provide a small system on a countertop consisting of a digital media reader (i.e., compact flash card reader), a display, a printer for printing index sheets, and an input device (i.e., touch panel). A customer inserts a digital storage media into the digital media reader and follows the instructions listed on the display. The system typically displays thumbnail sized images for the customer to view, provides printing options (i.e., print size, number of prints, etc.), requests personal information (i.e., name, address, etc.), and provides the customer with a receipt. The process of this system includes copying the images from the digital storage media to the lab or shop's server. The photofinisher operator periodically queries the server for newly stored images. When new images are located, the operator accesses the images, along with their ordering information, and sends the images and printing information to a printer.
In this approach, the burden is on the customer to correctly follow the instructions provided. And, in many instances, the customer requires the photofinisher operator's assistance to correctly submit the print order. In addition, as described above, the system requires special components such as the input device and display. This requirement for special equipment results in a high cost for the system, as well as additional complexity for both the customer and photofinisher operator to work with. Finally in instances where multiple systems would be required, the requirement for special equipment would cause a space problem. The systems presently in use are not suitable for high volume environments due to cost, complexity, and space issues.